Public Transportation Provides Options

If you want to get around congested areas and traffic, public transportation can provide a variety of safe affordable options. In a recent post, Crain’s Greg Hinz talks about the benefits of public transit:

Crain’s Chicago Business
October 13, 2015

The folks who run Chicago’s public transportation agencies have a unanimous message for folks planning to hit tonight’s Cubs playoff game—inside or outside Wrigley Field: Take the train, the bus or the bike, and leave the car at home.

At the Chicago Transit Authority, extra service will be added on the #80 Irving Park and #152 Addison bus routes. Extra buses also will be added to remote parking lots on Western Avenue, just north of Lane Tech High School. And extra trains are promised on the Red Line, which of course runs just a long fly ball east of the ballpark.

At the Regional Transportation Authority, officials are urging those who don’t know which lines to take to figure it out on the RTA’s trip planner.

For those who can handle two wheels rather than four, Divvy is offering valet service for those using its bikes to get to Wrigley. The drop-off station is on the north side of Wrigley, near Clark and Waveland.

For those who insist on driving, I’m sure my entrepreneurial neighbors again will be offering to park your car in their garage for a mere 60 bucks or so. The enterprise has grown so large that one ex-neighbor who now lives in the burbs comes in for each game to handle all of the garages on one block—in exchange for a cut of the take.

For the record, my partner and I do not rent out space in our garage. But I have to admit that the thought has occurred to me. We’ll see how high things go for the World Series.

Also, the city reports that taxi staging areas will be in operation at Addison and Racine, two blocks west of Wrigley, and at Addison and Halsted, two blocks east.

Seriously though, folks, on behalf of the residents of greater Lakeview: DON’T DRIVE. The neighborhood is a total mess under ordinary circumstances, and will be beyond a zoo tonight. Clark Street is down to one lane each way because of construction, and it’s the main north/south entry point.

So, do take the train or the bike. Just don’t try to pedal after too many beers. And don’t be too nasty to Mayor Rahm Emanuel if you see him at the game. But I’d advise the mayor to bring a good raincoat . . . just in case.